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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27577526">what belongs to the morning</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Limiu_Saga/pseuds/Limiu_Saga'>Limiu_Saga</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Modern Merlin Fics aka. My One True Passion [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops &amp; Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Coffee, Flowers, Fluff, M/M, POV Outsider, Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:35:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,279</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27577526</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Limiu_Saga/pseuds/Limiu_Saga</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin, the charming elf and barista at Albion Addict, has a knack for annoying the living hell out of Arthur at 7 am in the morning. </p>
<p>Leon honestly doesn’t care, he’s just there for the coffee.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Minor or Background Relationship(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Modern Merlin Fics aka. My One True Passion [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2177445</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>278</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Let the morning keep what belongs to the morning<br/>-	Marie Rutkoski</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leon didn’t fancy himself as a caffeine addict. His friends from the footie team might say something else. Percival valued himself as a guy who lived off of protein bars alone, and no coffee was needed in his morning routine. Lancelot was a proud vegan, so obviously he didn’t drink coffee. Leon still hadn’t figured out how that worked. Gwaine, supposedly, drank only tequila, morning, noon, and night. Elyan had his own special homebrew mixed with a teaspoon of fairy dust, that Gwen had introduced him to years ago. That left Leon, who thirsted after his extremely special brew of coffee from that one corner café on his way to the office.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Albion Addict served the most bitter and simultaneously sweetest coffee in the country. The owners, Gaius and Alice, were both Pucks whose ancestors had adopted the complete human look. Their coffee was anything but human with so-called potions brewed at midnight and served at the exactly perfect temperature in the morning, thanks to their all-magical staff. Leon was a proud Albion addicted man and had taken a special liking to their “hey banshee, it’s five-thirty”-drink. He was positive that neither Gaius nor Alice had named it. The main ingredient was, funnily enough, coffee beans with half-an-ear of reddish sugar and a tiny cup of the purple milk with sparkles. Leon still hadn’t gathered the courage to ask where the milk came from.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Arthur was the odd man out in the footie-group, who apparently didn’t need a morning fix on those horrendous weekdays. Even though the young Pendragon was not something called a “morning person”, he would still meet with Leon in the café on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Leon still hadn’t cracked the code, to why Arthur came to a coffee shop at 7:00 those mornings to meet with him and then not order anything.<br/>
Leon had found himself on an especially dreadful April morning and had voiced these thoughts to the Monday morning Barista, an elf named Merlin Emrys. Dark black and slightly curled hair was pushed behind and framed his pointy ears. Dark tattoos on pale skin painted him almost from top to bottom. Flowery plants looped around his arms, surrounding and embracing the only coloured illustration on his body; a golden sword that stood prominently on his left arm with the handle depicting a dragon’s head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s a bit weird though, right?” Leon usually sat in silence and enjoyed his hot beverage, as Merlin would be busy agitating Arthur, who had unfortunately woken up with a terrible cold that morning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Merlin stood cleaning spoons, not really paying attention to the increasing queue poor Mordred had to deal with alone. “I suppose it is. Never really pay much attention to it though.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, I assume you’re too buried in the insults to notice he never orders anything?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Har har Leon, you’re so incredibly funny, did you know that?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Comes with years of experience,” Leon smiled into the Hey Banshee drink. “But seriously, he’s never drinking anything here, and sure, he’s one of my friends and I value his company, but why in the world would he come with me to get coffee he doesn’t even drink? This place isn’t even close to his apartment.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It isn’t?” Merlin asked, all of a sudden more interested in Leon than the spoon he had been cleaning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No it’s not!” Leon almost slammed the cup onto the counter, but stopped himself before everything went splashing everywhere. “He drives an extra five kilometres just to get here and not order anything. Sure he’s nice enough to pick me up and give me a ride to work, but he’s never been that generous before. Not even when we lived on the same road! And went to the same bloody school!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Merlin laughed politely and continued washing his spoons. “Maybe he likes the atmosphere?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m sorry to say this, but if I didn’t like your damn coffee this much, then I’d never spend time here. It’s a hole in the wall, and it sure looks like it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Merlin went into a coughing fit after that, and Leon almost had the decency to feel bad for the guy. If it hadn’t been so darn early in the morning, then he might even have apologised.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Arthur had been sick for the rest of the week, only to make a miraculous recovery Friday morning. Leon didn’t know if it was out of spite or someone had dropped something into his herbal tea. If that someone just so happened to be Morgana, then he would never tell. Obviously the first stop Arthur made that Friday morning was Albion Addict. He had tumbled in a few minutes after Leon had placed his order.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You look fresh,” was all he said, as he saw the bags under Arthur’s eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tell me about it,” Arthur leaned back in the chair. "Some random girl kept calling me all night, and just wouldn’t shut up. She asked for Gwaine and would not believe me when I said he had given her the wrong bloody number. I swear his one-night stands get more and more clingy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sounds like a fun chap,” Merlin added, as he walked up to the duo with Leon’s coffee.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re a lifesaver,” he muttered, as Merlin put the cup down on the table, “and, yeah, Greene is… something for himself.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, <em>Gwaine Greene</em>? He’s an incubus.” Merlin said, leaning over the counter to pour a bit of the purple and sparkly milk into Leon’s cup. It wasn’t the first time Leon and Arthur had complained about the people Gwaine brought with him home. The shoddy excuses for one-night-stands had more often than not taken some of the silverware from his surprisingly well-kept and expensive apartment. “A second generation though, and a poor one at it, but he’s definitely an incubus.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Arthur sputtered slightly at the casual comment, “wait, wait, wait. <em>Gwaine</em>. The cousin of the siren?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The siren? Dude, that’s like saying I’m a cousin of the sidhe.” Merlin pouted, crossed his arms, and looked into the eyes of Arthur. Leon chose not to comment and drank instead his magenta coloured coffee, while Arthur stammered through several combinations of completely different sentences. “You humans are so colour-blind. The stories must be true, Pendragon children’s heads <em>are</em> smaller than their waists. Not that that would take much.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leon did not snort at that. No way in hell. Not even after Arthur’s backhanded comment about his current state of being fighting fit. “But you <em>are</em> sort of a cousin of the sidhe, right?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The lack of a response from Merlin worried Leon for a moment, and he wondered if it would be wise to save his idiot of a childhood friend from his own mouth. The pinkish colour spreading on Arthur’s cheeks stopped him from saying anything. Merlin raised his eyebrows, uncrossed his arms, turned around on his heel and walked away from the counter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Good one, mate.” Leon grunted into his coffee.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll wait in the car.” Arthur buried his head in his hands, as he walked out of the shop. Leon stood up from the chair he had placed himself in and stumbled towards the raven-haired elf.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know what, Merlin?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leon leaned against the wall, and studied the other man for a moment. Under the curly dark hair hid a pair of almost glowing golden eyes, that had a tendency to flicker blue when he mocked Leon’s friend. “I suppose I could be wrong, but I once had an enlightening conversation with one of Arthur’s exes. Sophia, an awful girl, truly. She was sidhe and really liked to brag about her heritage. Now, I don’t know if she was lying or not, but I am one hundred percent sure she once mentioned something about her absolutely dreadful cousin, the elf.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t flatter me; second cousin, once removed.” Merlin smiled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The weekend came and went too quick for Leon’s taste. The brightness of his morning that was Albion Addict came into view, and he almost gave an audible sigh at the look of the building. He opened the doors and looked at the longer than usual queue, before giving up and walking to the back of it. Right until he caught sight of Arthur's golden locks, sitting by the counter with an actual cup of coffee, while chatting aimlessly with Merlin. He disregarded his place in the queue and walked up to the paradox.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’ve actually bought something?” Leon sat down beside him and smiled at Merlin in greeting.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No,” he said, voice a bit above a whisper, “this is yours. I thought there was a chance you might not wanted to wait in line.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leon took a second look at the cup and doubled back up at Arthur.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You haven’t poisoned this right?” He said, while slowly lifting the cup up and smelling the familiar Hey Banshee purple milk.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That earned him a laugh from Merlin and a constipated look from Arthur.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I can vouch for him,” Merlin stated between laughs, “I did make it myself, if you don’t trust Arthur, you can trust me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He took a slurp from it and melted into the chair. “Thank you, Merlin.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey! I was the one who bought it!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He chose not to answer, but let his chin fall down into his hand and rested his elbow on the counter. In front of him stood a bouquet of blue lilies, that did not fit the colour theme of the café but lightened up the room nonetheless. An exaggeration? Maybe, but at least it lighted up the table they stood on.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Pretty flowers.” He commented, and saw Merlin abandon his conversation with the younger barista, Mordred, to look at the flowers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They are pretty.” Merlin stated, and walked away from the blubbering and confused Mordred, that still handled the line alone. “But I don’t think the one who gave them to me knows flower language.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Someone gave these to you?” Leon proclaimed and stopped himself from reaching out to touch the lilies.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah. But I honestly don’t think they meant to be so profound. I’m actually not sure if they know how to.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Arthur spluttered something beside him, but Leon ignored the guy, and watched instead how Merlin’s golden eyes slowly turned a few shades of blue as he looked at the flowers that now matched his irises.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>Merlin</em>. Help.” Mordred finally stammered out when he almost slipped across the floor and flew directly into Merlin. Merlin grabbed his arm and pulled him up into a secure and steady position.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sorry, guys. I have to actually work. See you on Wednesday.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leon turned to face Arthur and say something along the lines of ‘<em>you think Morgana likes flowers</em>?’, but stopped when he was met with the look of Arthur’s face. “Why the fuck do you look like a tomato?” Was what came out instead.</p>
<p>“I’m feeling a bit claustrophobic.” He blurted out and rose from the seat to dash across the room and out the door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why is the princess so quiet?” Gwaine questioned that afternoon, after a longer than usual day at the office with screeching clients and annoyed bosses all around. “I’m not exactly complaining, it’s been nice to not have him point out how annoying I am every minute, but it’s weird.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You noticed too?” Leon said, phone in hand and texting the flower-shop down the street, and asked if they had something blood-red that weren't roses. He hadn’t figured out if Morgana liked flowers yet, but it was worth a try.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s really eerie,” Gwaine continued, scratching his head, “it’s almost like he’s thinking.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t really know, he <em>was</em> a bit beside himself this morning at Albion.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Albion Addict? That place Merlin works?” Gwaine asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leon put down his phone and nodded at the question, “exactly, you know Merlin, right? I’ve actually been meaning to ask you about something. Merlin said something about you being an incubus?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Gwaine laughed at the statement and pulled at his shoulders.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, it’s true. I didn’t know it myself until like two months ago. I ran into Merlin at a bar brawl sometime last year. We’ve been sort of keeping in contact since. One day he just outright asked me about it, and was hella surprised when I said I didn’t know what he was blabbering on about. I’m second generation though, whatever that means. Google doesn’t really give a great answer to what it is and since I don’t really talk to my folks, then I still haven’t got a clear answer. Merlin can only explain so much.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sounds like a lot, “ Leon replied, trying to give the other man an encouraging smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Eh, it’s fine, really. Explains a few things, I suppose.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He took a second to look at Gwaine, and concluded that there was nothing that could outwardly phase the man. He had known Gwaine for a few years and had the first year or two stapled the guy as a player without shame. Both statements were true, but something had begun to show itself, hidden under his playful personality and wild but steady lifestyle. Perhaps some self-realisation had hit him in the face, when Merlin revealed that somewhat crucial information.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His pocket started vibrating and he pulled out his phone to look at the name Morgana showing itself above a text.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Why is Arthur asking me about flower symbolism? What’ve you done.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Gwaine peaked over his shoulder. A wolf whistle was heard from the incubus less than a second after he read the message.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There truly is something wrong with him.” Gwaine snorted out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wednesday morning came crashing. Leon rolled out of bed and stumbled across a few streets to almost fall down at the front door of Albion Addict. He was met with the aroma of coffee and baked goods as he opened the door. A mysterious absence of Merlin was to be spotted. Mordred was in the middle of mixing a cappuccino with something Leon recognized as dust from dragonflies. The Bastet Freya stood in front of the non-existent line, waiting for costumers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey Freya. Where’s Merlin?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bastets were rare these days with only ten or fewer families spread throughout the UK. Freya was from one of the older ones and Leon knew she was pure-blooded. She had thin fur running down her arms and her claws were darker than the night. Her pupils were thin under the lamps and reflected the light more than human eyes did. She smiled in recognition of Leon, and he spotted the fangs that were usually hidden.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He’s taking a few days off. The lad deserves it. Working himself to the bone. Now where’s that pompous blonde friend of yours? He’s usually here on Wednesdays, right?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Arthur’s taking a vacation for the rest of the week. It’s never happened before,” Leon leaned a bit closer to the girl, “between you and me, but he’s been acting real weird the past few weeks. I’m starting to get a bit worried if he’s going mad or something.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Freya covered her mouth to laugh quietly at him. “Yeah, love does that to you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leon was fairly certain he heard her say something else than she intended.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, it doesn’t matter,” Freya assured him, “you want the usual?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leon and the guys had agreed to meet up for footie-practise that Sunday. Lancelot had asked if he could bring Gwen, which had prompted a few gagging sounds from Elyan and a clap on the shoulder from Gwaine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sure, I’ll bring Elena, she’s a new friend. Leon can ask Morgana and then Elyan and Percival can sit at the side-lines and pout.” Gwaine chuckled at the rest of the group.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Morgana?” Percival challenged by pushing the shorter man with his elbow. Leon didn’t have an answer and was thankfully saved by Lancelot.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll text Arthur he can bring a plus one if he want to.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not that the friend-group expected Arthur to pull someone along. He hadn’t done so since he broke up with Vivian two or three years ago. As far as the group knew, he hadn’t dated anyone since Cedric, and they hadn’t even had the misfortune to meet that man. The description of him from Morgana was enough to make them all hate the guy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why didn’t you tell us?” Was the first thing Leon was met with, when he walked towards the group of people standing at less than an arm’s length from each other. Gwaine was the one to run up and greet Leon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Didn’t tell you what?” Was all Leon could comprehend to say. Sure, it wasn’t 7 am, but he hadn’t gotten his coffee that morning and could be described as grumpy before he got something assembling caffeine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You idiot.” Gwaine smacked his shoulder, sending him a smile. “About Arthur.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mate, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Merlin?” Gwaine said, gesturing wildly with his arms, “the barista? Arthur's boyfriend?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leon was in deep waters and he didn’t know how to swim. Surely Gwaine was joking, it was a weird prank, but not completely out of character for the guy. It wasn’t worse than the time he told him he was the descendant of a sea-monster. Not far from the truth in hindsight, when Leon thought about it. If the whole ‘cousin of the siren’-thing was to be believed, which he did not know if it was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Silence followed, and the look on Gwaine’s face started to falter. He kept opening and closing his mouth to say something, but ended up looking like a fish out of water. At least a fish could swim.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hi Leon!” Someone yelled and he turned to see Merlin out of the barista uniform. Dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, he had his fingers curled around Arthur’s hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hi,” he answered, a bit later than intended, “Merlin. Arthur. Had a good vacation?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We did! Arthur and I went to Wales to visit my mum.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Merlin said multiple other things. How the car ride there had been appalling, since Arthur’s taste in music made him want to jump out of the window. Leon had unintentionally stopped listening halfway into the story. Instead, he looked at the pair and mentally slapped himself a few times. What a horribly weird thing to not notice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>---</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Monday morning he noticed. Monday morning, he could not stop noticing. Monday morning he gave himself an internal lecture about how idiotic he had been to not notice. Those long pauses, where the couple displayed public eye-sex. The lingering touches, when Merlin either rubbed Arthur’s shoulder or played with his hair. The way Merlin’s eyes changed colour every time that fond expression came across his face. Arthur’s burning red cheeks and ears as Merlin called him something unflattering.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was a weird way of flirting, but Leon wasn’t the expert. Besides, you couldn’t judge a man’s perception skills so early in the morning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After all, Leon was just there for the coffee.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Arthur was there for so many other reasons.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A little something something extra</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>”No.”</p><p> </p><p>”Arthur, you can’t just disagree with everything I say.”</p><p> </p><p>“Watch me.”</p><p> </p><p>Leon sighed and put his head into his almost shaking hands. The past few weeks had been frustrating in more ways than one. Arthur’s constant shift in mood for the past few weeks did <em>not</em> help the situation in any way whatsoever.</p><p> </p><p>“Arthur you <em>cannot</em> propose to Merlin while he’s working.”</p><p> </p><p>“But why not? That’s how we met!” Arthur sat opposite Leon with a cup of tea placed firmly between his hands. Despite having a barista as a boyfriend for more than two years, Merlin had not gotten the man addicted to coffee yet.</p><p> </p><p>“And it is very sweet that you think like that,” Leon acknowledged, “but I don’t think Merlin would appreciate being proposed to at 7 in the morning in front of a giant group of people. Including <em>me</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Leon had to give it to his friend, Arthur was thinking. It was a rare occasion and Leon almost wanted to appreciate the effort he put into it. Marriage was a strong commitment and Leon had found himself considering it with Morgana. He had found himself hesitating, not sure if it was because of her intimidating demeanour or the fact that she was his best friend’s sister.</p><p> </p><p>“You really think he wouldn’t like it?” Arthur’s voice was small. That moment alone made Leon doubt if it was really the infamous Uther Pendragon’s son he was talking to, but it washed away every doubt he had of Arthur and Merlin’s relationship.</p><p> </p><p>“I think Merlin would appreciate celebrating immediately, instead of waiting for his shift and yours to end. It’s sentimental and all that nonsense, but Merlin does not strike me as the patient type.”</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Back in April, Leon had placed a petition at the office to ban Mondays. Gwaine had seemed to agree wholeheartedly with request for a longer weekend, but the higher standing people at the office, along with Arthur the twit, had disagreed with the two. As a result, Leon found himself walking without motivation to Albion Addict at the crack of dawn.</p><p> </p><p>Merlin threw one look at Leon and sympathy was to be spotted in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“The usual?” He asked when Leon fell into a chair and was close to leaning his forehead on the tabletop.</p><p><br/>
“With extra purple please.” He muttered, hoping Merlin would understand his pathetic attempt at ordering.</p><p> </p><p>Merlin might have muttered something along the lines of ‘coming right up!’ with too many shades of enthusiasm. Leon allowed himself two minutes of sleep at the table, trying to ignore the various messages from Morgana about finding socks in weird places in their shared flat. Not that he left them there deliberately and he had tried to tell her that multiple times. The argument somehow almost always ended with her winning, because she did not believe it when Leon accused her cat, Aithusa, of running around and framing him for the badly placed socks.</p><p> </p><p>“Here you go,” Merlin said as he put down the shining magenta coffee in front of the almost-snoring Leon. “An extra purple one for our favourite zombie.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re an angel,” Leon said and embraced the cup the moment it hit the table.</p><p> </p><p>“I know.”</p><p> </p><p>Merlin did not leave after serving Leon his coffee. He hovered above him for a few seconds until he ultimately sat down. Leon relocated his eyes from the cup of ‘<em>hey banshee, it’s five-thirty’</em>, and caught the wavering eyes of the elf. He could spot a blue colour forming in the corners of his irises, completely overruling the rather excessive golden colour that usually occupied his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“You okay?” Leon asked, ignoring the soothing effects of the coffee for a few seconds. Leon hadn’t seen Merlin’s eyes turn blue for a while now. Ever since Arthur and Merlin had moved in together, Arthur had stopped meeting Leon at the café. Apparently half an hour of sleep was better than giving Leon a ride to work every morning. Arthur had insisted that it was because he only visited Albion Addict to see Merlin, and now he woke up every morning with said boyfriend in his arms, so he didn’t see a reason to go to the café all the time anymore. Leon had a hard time accepting that excuse, especially in the winter when Arthur’s car had a seat warmer.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah I’m okay. I..” Merlin took a deep breath and shut his eyes. “I want to ask you something.”</p><p> </p><p>Leon wanted to ask if it could wait until he was awake and in a mood that wasn’t his ‘kill everything that moves’ state of mind.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure.” He said instead. The blueness of the eyes persuaded him in the end.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s just… Arthur has.” Merlin bit his lip and forced his shoulders to rest instead of having them all the way up and surrounding his pointy ears.</p><p> </p><p>“Arthur has?” Leon echoed, sipping his drink.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s been a bit distant… Sort of.”</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I didn’t really think much of it until last month,” he began, crossing his arms. “We were out eating at this really fancy restaurant, that is far above my salary, and he kept looking at all other places than me. It was weird but I obviously didn’t react on it.  Then he has been closing his computer or changing to a new page every time I walk into the room and get really defensive every time I ask him about it. And I’ve caught him talking and texting someone for the past week, but he always hangs up or stops when he sees me. It’s been really exhausting and I’m worried, like what if he’s cheating on me?”</p><p> </p><p>Leon had long ago abandoned his coffee to look at Merlin. Mouth possibly hanging a few meters beneath his nose, and a struggle to form any coherent sound.</p><p> </p><p>“Am I being stupid?” Merlin asked with his hands furiously messing with his own hair.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course he’s not cheating on you Merlin.” The sentence put a smile on Merlin’s lips.</p><p> </p><p>“And you’re sure?”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course I’m sure!” Leon regretted the volume of his voice when a woman in her late sixties sent him a dirty look. “You’re the entirety of Arthur’s world. He will never admit to it, but you’re the absolute only thing the guy talks about. Honestly, I think Gwaine is going to stab him one of these days because of it.”</p><p> </p><p>Blushing was a universal thing that people couldn’t control, but the exception to the rule seemed to be the elf that was Merlin. His eyes told a whole other story.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s good.” Merlin laughed. He was smiling into his hands as he took a few seconds to assemble the raging thoughts that was so evidently showing outwardly. “You know, you’re his best friend.”</p><p> </p><p>“I am.”</p><p> </p><p>“And the real thing I actually wanted to ask you, is uhm… your opinion? I suppose it would be your opinion.”</p><p> </p><p>“What opinion?”</p><p> </p><p>Merlin smiled and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. “So, I’ve been thinking a lot about Arthur and I’s relationship lately.”</p><p> </p><p>“I figured.”</p><p>“Yes, and I have arrived at the conclusion that I really <em>really</em> love him.” He turned around and showed Leon a picture. “What do you think?”</p><p> </p><p>The photo showed a knotted golden ring in a velvet red box.</p><p> </p><p>“I think it’s beautiful.”</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, let me get this gay.”</p><p> </p><p>“Get this gay?” Leon asked with furrowed brows and a slightly opened mouth. Gwaine was only grinning.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I can’t say ‘let me get this straight’, cause it’s anything but, right?”</p><p> </p><p>“I really want to slap you right now.” Leon said without hesitation.</p><p> </p><p>“Argh, come on.” Was the phrase Gwaine chose to go with, before slinging an arm around Leon’s shoulders and pulling him towards the break room. “I’m hilarious.”</p><p> </p><p>“And very unoriginal.”</p><p> </p><p>“Details, details!” He sang and danced down the hallway with Leon’s head in something assembling a headlock. “But they’re both thinking of proposing to each other?”</p><p> </p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p> </p><p>“And they’ve both come to you to talk about it?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, that is brilliant!” Gwaine shrieked and jumped with glee. “Do you know how many ways you can take advantage in this? Like, I have at least five planned now, all ready for execution.”</p><p> </p><p>“No.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh come on! It would be great!”</p><p> </p><p>“No.” He found himself repeating. Back in university, Leon had found himself following one of Gwaine’s absurd and overly complicated plans for chatting up a girl. The night had ended in cat scratches and a memory charm no one dared to remove. Leon rarely thought of that night but it was an awful reminder of the never ending mistrust of plans made by Gwaine.</p><p> </p><p>Their conversation had faded out with a pout from Gwaine’s side when they reached the break room and Gwaine finally released the headlock. Aching in the neck was something Leon could ignore but the gleam in Gwaine’s eyes made him do a doubletake to make sure he wasn’t doing something slightly illegal.</p><p> </p><p>“I went to a seminar last week.” Gwaine started as they sat down at a table in the corner.</p><p> </p><p>“A seminar?” Was the words that came out of Leon’s mouth, dripping with disbelief.</p><p> </p><p>“I am actually not joking.” He smiled, “it was about incubuses… incubi? I don’t know. But it was enlightening nonetheless.”</p><p> </p><p>Gwaine’s heritage was not something he spoke openly about often. When he did, he treated it as any other topic and put no emphasis on any sort of importance. Leon did know it had affected the man in a few ways over the years. An example was the first staple relationship he had ever had with a girl named Elena. She was odd and a bit clumsy in a good way, and she managed to keep Gwaine grounded. A trait Leon truly admired her for. Gwaine had broached the topic to his parents that winter, but the absence of teasing and jokes from the incubus’ side had indicated the not ideal outcome of <em>that</em> conversation.</p><p> </p><p>Merlin had mentioned the difficulty of such a topic, and it could take some time before Gwaine returned to something assembling the one they had grown to know. He needed time and comfort and Elena showed herself to be both of those things to him.</p><p> </p><p>“Did you learn anything interesting?” Leon inquired with caution.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh I learned plenty. For example I learned a very specific skillset that second generations have.”</p><p> </p><p>The mischief that glowed in his eyes was anything but reassuring, and Leon wanted to bolt right out of the room when he recognized it.</p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p>“Apparently, I can charm anyone into doing favours for me. I’ll just batter my eyes for minute and you will do anything I say.”</p><p> </p><p>Leon’s eyebrows raised themselves when Gwaine started blinking aggressively at him. They sat for half a minute with Gwaine trying several outlandish facial expressions until he landed on the smolder from the Disney film about Rapunzel.</p><p> </p><p>“Merlin’s right.”</p><p><br/>
“About what?” Gwaine murmured through the smolder.</p><p> </p><p>“You are a terrible incubus.”</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>On a sunny Sunday, Leon had been sent off to fetch Arthur and drag him along to footie practise. The man had chosen to leave his phone in a ditch apparently, and did not answer to any message or phone call that was sent his way. Leon did not want to complain about his role as the errand-boy, but the lost bet of Lancelot and Gwen’s pregnancy announcement had made him the designated driver and errand boy for the month. Why did he not bet money instead? Who could know.</p><p> </p><p>The absence of elevators in the building did not make Leon any happier, as he ran to the fourth floor. A moment of questioning his fitness state later, he walked up to the door and heard laughter coming from beneath the door. He leaned closer to hear the disassembled conversation coming from the other side.</p><p> </p><p><em>“We’re idiots.”</em> He heard Merlin say, laughter still filling up his voice.</p><p>
  
</p><p><em>“No, you’re the idiot.”</em> Arthur responded in a tone Leon hadn’t heard before. It almost sounded fond.</p><p> </p><p><em>“Well you’re a clotpole</em>!”</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“That’s not a real word.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“It so is.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Describe it.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Leon almost knocked on the door to interrupt the horrific type of flirting his friends had going on.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“In two words?” </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“My fiancé.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Leon stopped himself from knocking and took a step back from the door. Maybe footie practice wasn’t so important after all, he convinced himself as he walked down the stairs again.</p><p> </p><p>Besides, he would get all the details the next morning while drinking his purple coffee and chatting with the blue-eyed Merlin.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I got a sudden spark of inspiration and wanted to write SOMETHING.</p><p>This is what came out of that random spark of motivation.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Why the fuck is queue spelled like that?</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>I know a lot of the creatures described in this story probably don’t follow the rules of their myths and such. But it’s my story, my rules.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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